Pain keeps Bautista in the pits

Alvaro Bautista was one of three MotoGP riders not to record a lap time on the final day of pre-season testing at Jerez on Monday.

The Go&Fun Honda Gresini rider suffered finger fractures in a Sunday fall (pictured) and, with rain again a factor on the final day, opted to play it safe.

“I feel a lot of pain especially when I try to hold the bike,” Bautista told the official MotoGP website. “So I preferred not to ride and try to be 100 per cent for the first race in Qatar.”

Bautista will go into the new season, his second with Gresini, having been seventh, sixth and tenth on combined lap times at the end of each official test.

“We did two very good tests in Sepang,” reflected Bautista. “For sure this test has not been so nice because we lost day one with the weather. Yesterday we did a good job, testing new parts for Showa and found something good. Then we had the crash and it started to rain again.

“We are not as prepared as I want, but it is basically the same situation for everyone.”

Dani Pedrosa and Ben Spies were the other riders not to ride at Jerez on Monday.